UK Elite Teams By Season : 1980-81

Joining the first division for this season were Featherstone, Halifax, Oldham and Barrow. They replaced Wigan, Hunslet, York and Blackpool.

The League. Bradford took the title with 41 points, narrowly ahead of Warrington on 39 points. Then came Hull KR, Wakefield and Castleford all on 38, Widnes and Hull FC on 34 and the top eight rounded off with St Helens (31).

Relegated were Halifax, Salford, Workington and Oldham. So two of the four promoted stayed up, occupying the two places above the drop zone.

The Challenge Cup. For the quarter finals, the results were Warrington 13-9 Wakefield, Featherstone 5-21 Widnes, Hull KR 19-8 Salford and Oldham 5-6 St Helens. The semis had Warrington going down to Widnes 9-17 and Hull KR being too good for Saints 22-5.

The final at Wembley attracted the usual very healthy crowd of 92,500 where Widnes prevailed over Hull KR 18-9.

Widnes' took Challenge Cup trophy (Pic: Widnes Vikings)

The League Cup. Picking up the action at the quarter finals stage the scores were Castleford 18-10 Widnes, Hull FC 13-0 Whitehaven, Leigh 13-15 Barrow and Warrington 16-10 Halifax. The semi final match ups had Warrington and Cas' drawing 5-5 but Warrington took the replay 22-10. The other game saw Barrow coming out on top 13-10 over Hull FC.

On to the final at central Park, Wigan where nearly 13,000 attendees gathered. Warrington took the silverware 12-5 at the expense of a gallant Barrow side.

Lancashire Cup: In first the semi final, Oldham went down to Warrington 2-11, while Widnes did likewise with Wigan, this time 10-14. The final at Knowsley Rd, St Helens attracted only 6,300 to witness Warrington take the title 26-10 against Wigan.

Yorkshire Cup: Across the Pennines the last four met with Cas' losing to Hull KR 7-11 but Leeds got past Huddersfield with a 17-13 result. The final at Fartown, Huddersfield had Leeds proving victorious 8-7 over Hull KR. Nearly 10,000 attended.

The Premiership Finals. The top eight assembled and the results were: Wakefield 8-25 Castleford, Bradford 12-14 Saints, Warrington 7-19 Hull FC and Hull KR 14-12 Widnes. Then it was a case of Cas' 11-12 Hull FC and Hull KR 30-17 Saints.

The all Hull affair for the grand final was held at Headingley, Leeds in front of nearly 30,000 fans. Hull KR took the game with a 11-7 victory.

Summary: Applying my points to the season, Warrington collected 64 points due to their League and Lancashire Cup trophies plus strong efforts across the board. Hull KR won the Premiership and I gave them 60 points. A Challenge Cup trophy got Widnes third spot. Bradford won the league but not much else so came 7th. Leeds winning the Yorkshire Cup still only got them 9th due to a poor season otherwise.

	Rk	Team	Lge	Fnl	CC	LC	Y/L	Total
	1	Warrington	18	6	12	16	12	64
	2	Hull KR	16	20	16		8	60
	3	Widnes	11	6	20	4	4	45
	4	Castleford	12	12		8	4	36
	5	Hull FC	10	16		8		34
	6	St Helens	9	12	12			33
	7	Bradford	20	6				26
	8	Wakefield	14	6	6			26
	9	Leeds	7				12	19
	10	Barrow	6			12		18
	11	Leigh	8			4		12
	12	Featherstone	5		6			11
	12	Oldham	1		6		4	11
	12	Salford	3		6			9
	15	Wigan					8	8
	16	Halifax	4			4		8
	16	Whitehaven				4		4
	18	Huddersfield					4	4
	18	Workington	2					2
		Total	146	84	84	60	56	430

For the season 1979-80, simply click here.
To see the season 1981-82, just click here.

UK Elite Teams By Season : 1981-82

The 81-82 season had York, Wigan, Fulham and Whitehaven get promoted to the first division, with Halifax, Salford, Workington and Oldham saying adieu.

The League. The winner was Leigh on 49 points from Hull FC and Widnes both with 47. Then came Hull KR (45) and Bradford (41). Leeds, St Helens (35 apiece) and Warrington (30) made up the top eight.

Demoted were Fulham, Wakefield, York and Whitehaven, unfortunately the four sides that were promoted. You would have to say four sides automatically going up and down was too many if a yo-yo scenario was being created.

The Challenge Cup. Picking up the action with the last eight: Bradford 8-8 and 7-10 Widnes, Hull FC 16-10 Halifax, Leigh 3-8 Castleford and Wakefield 2-20 Leeds. For the last four, is was Hull FC 15-11 Castleford and Widnes 11-8 Leeds.

Down to London town where 92,000 converged for the big day. The game was all square at 14-14 so a replay was held at Elland Rd, Leeds. There Hull FC was crowned the winner with an 18-9 scoreline over Widnes with 41,000 to witness the occasion.

Hull FC holding the trophy aloft. Pic source: Hull FC.

To see a video of the final replay, copy and paste the following url:

http://widgets-cdn-p1.gbox.com/widget/offer-SyFYvsdc/offer/offer-SyFYvsdc-1471890547772

The League Cup. In the quarter finals, the games went this way: Barrow 12-14 Hull FC, Oldham 14-5 Leeds, Salford 0-6 Swinton, Widnes 8-9 Hull KR. Then in the semis, Hull FC beat Oldham 22-6 and Hull KR got past Swinton 23-14.

The final was an all Hull affair, held at Headingley, Leeds. Over 25,000 were in attendance to see Hull FC take the title 12-4.

Lancashire Cup: For the 69th edition, the semi finals were: Leigh 20-6 St Helens and Widnes 33-2 Salford. The final was held at Central Park, Wigan, where Leigh took the trophy with a 8-3 victory in front of 9,000 fans.

Yorkshire Cup: In the semi final stage, Castleford defeated 40-3 Batley and Hull KR lost narrowly 11-12 to Bradford. In the final 6,000 came along and was played at Headingley, Leeds where Castleford prevailed 10-5 over Bradford.

The Premiership Finals. The top eight league teams played this knock out tournament. The match ups were: Hull KR 17-8 Bradford, Leigh 1-1 & 9-10 Warrington, Hull FC 23-8 Saints and Widnes 39-11 Leeds.

The semi finals pitted Widnes against Hull KR, the former winning 16-15. The other game ensured a Hull presence when FC defeated Warrington 27-7. 12,000 were at Headingley, Leeds for the final. There Widnes were too good winning 23-8 against Hull FC.

Summary: Applying my points system to the results shows clearly this was Hull FC's year. They won the Challenge and League Cups, plus runner up in the league and Premiership Finals, giving them 70 points. Widnes weren't too far back on 64 points with a strong all round display. The clubs only title was the Premiership Final trophy.

Leigh and Castleford won the Lancashire and Yorkshire Cups respectively. Leigh also added the league title too for good measure and came third with 44 points.

	Rk	Team	Lge	Fnl	CC	LC	Y/L	Total
	1	Hull FC	18	16	20	16		70
	2	Widnes	16	20	16	4	8	64
	3	Leigh	20	6	6		12	44
	4	Hull KR	14	12		12	4	42
	5	Leeds	11	6	12	4		33
	6	Bradford	12	6	6		8	32
	7	Castleford	5		12		12	29
	8	Warrington	9	12				21
	9	St Helens	10	6			4	20
	10	Barrow	8			4		12
	11	Wakefield	3		6			9
	12	Oldham				8		8
	12	Salford				4	4	8
	12	Swinton				8		8
	15	Featherstone	7					7
	16	Wigan	6					6
	16	Halifax			6			6
	18	London	4					4
	18	Batley					4	4
	20	York	2					2
	21	Whitehaven	1					1
		Total	146	84	84	60	56	430

For the 1980-81 season, simply click here.
To see the season 1982-83, just click here.